USS Hood (NCC-42296)
|registry=NCC-42296 |launched=reference stardate 2/3512 |affiliation=Federation, Starfleet |status=Active (2381) }} The USS Hood (NCC-42296) was a Federation starship in service to Starfleet in the 23rd and 24th centuries. The Hood entered service on reference stardate 2/3512. History Prior to Robert DeSoto assuming command, the ship was commanded by Ledbetter. When DeSoto replaced him, Ledbetter assumed command of the USS Yorktown. In 2359, the Hood was ambushed in a surprise attack by several Sindareen raiders, but managed to destroy them all. The Hood was heavily damaged in the attack. Repairs were expected to take two to three months in dry dock, but were finished over a month ahead of schedule. At that time, Lieutenant William T. Riker was transferred to the ship to become its first officer. 2360s Robert DeSoto assumed command of the USS Hood in 2361. His tenure as Hood's captain would last five years. In 2364, the Hood traveled to Deneb IV to deliver several replacement crew members to the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS Enterprise-D]], including Commander Riker who had accepted a position as first officer. Also aboard the Hood was Admiral Leonard McCoy, who had been invited on a tour of the medical facilities aboard the new Enterprise. In 2366, the Hood transported Betazoid mediator Tam Elbrun to the Enterprise-D so that Elbrun could participate in the mission to communicate with the Gomtuu life-form. In 2369, Benjamin Sisko created a holoprogram that included the Hood as part of an attempted strategy to defeat the Borg in a recreation of the Battle of Wolf 359. Sisko, theorizing new attack patterns he hoped might change the results of the battle, ordered the Hood to concentrate weapons fire with three other starships to allow a boarding party to gain access to Locutus's cube. :While the holoprogram mentioned the Hood as present at the battle, the vessel survived to be mentioned again in later sources. 2370s In 2371, the Hood responded to a distress call from the [[USS Voyager (NCC-74656)|USS Voyager]] when that ship suffered a propulsion malfunction during their shakedown cruise. During their rendezvous with the Voyager, both ships detected a Malkus Artifact in possession of the Maquis. Lieutenant Tuvok temporarily transferred to the Hood before infiltrating the Maquis in order to recover the artifact. The Hood followed the Artifact energy signature to Slaybis IV, where Maquis leaders Chakotay and Cal Hudson surrendered the powerful weapon to Starfleet. The Hood transported the Artifact to the Rector Institute on Earth, and from there traveled to Starbase 96 to pick up supplies for Brackin's Planet. Also in 2371, the Hood proceeded to Deep Space 9 to investigate the loss of communication with Bajoran system, along with the USS Potemkin, USS Exeter and the Klingon vessel, IKS N'Gat. The task force found and engaged the Rugg'l, a Cardassian Galor-class vessel, in the system. The Hood ''helped in securing the Bajoran system. Following an encounter between the crew of the [[USS Defiant (NX-74205)|USS ''Defiant]] and a Calderisi raider, the Hood was ordered to the Calderisi homeworld to investigate a weapon the Calderisi had developed that had crippled the Defiant. In 2372, the Hood docked at Deep Space 9 for repairs. The Hood fought in many battles during the Dominion War, including Operation Return and the First Battle of Chin'toka. During the latter engagement, Hood first officer Dina Voyskunsky was killed in action. The Hood suffered heavy and repeated losses during the Dominion War, including the death of surgeon Keith Hughes's wife and young daughter during one battle; the loss pained Doctor Hughes enough that he decided to leave Starfleet in order to escape the violence. The Hood was to visit Deep Space 9 in 2376 to pick up an industrial replicator bound for Cardassia. The Hood was one of the Federation starships sent to intercept the Scimitar in sector 1045. The crew of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)|USS Enterprise-E]] was able to destroy the Scimitar before it could reach that sector. 2380s In January of 2380, the Hood visited planet Gorlak IX, where it discovered undescribed ancient machinery. Later that year, the Hood escorted representatives of the Trinni/ek to a second attempted meeting with President Nanietta Bacco. Following the Borg Invasion of 2381, the Hood responded to a distress signal from a planetoid which turned out to originate from a crashed Borg scout ship, and its newly-liberated ex-drones. Deputy Chief of Security Ensign Dmitri Nakahara killed the survivors. Category:Federation starships Category:Excelsior class starships